By Chris, owner of Everlast Roofing North West (20+ years on Merseyside roofs) · About Everlast Roofing · Last updated 2026-07-14
Summary
Most roofing horror stories in Liverpool start the same way: a knock at the door, a big cash deposit, and a job that turns from a slipped slate into a full re-roof. Choosing a good roofer comes down to six checks (a real address, public liability insurance shown without being asked, photos of the actual fault, a written itemised quote, a fair deposit rather than a large cash demand, and reviews that name real Merseyside streets) and five red flags that should make you close the door. This guide walks through all of them, shows you what a fair Liverpool quote looks like line by line, and gives you the questions to ask before anyone gets up a ladder.
From Chris, the owner
The single fastest way to sort an honest Liverpool roofer from a chancer is to ask for photographs of the actual problem before you accept any quote. A good roofer already has them on his phone, because he took them while he was up there. A cowboy will tell you the whole roof has gone but will not show you a single picture of the nails, the laths or the felt. No photos, no job. It really is that simple.
I have lost count of the number of Liverpool roofs I have gone out to where the last fella left the homeowner worse off than when he started. A woman in Aigburth rang me last year after a door-knocker told her the whole roof needed replacing for the best part of fourteen grand. He had taken a two hundred pound deposit in cash. I went up, took some photos, and showed her that she had three slipped slates and one cracked tile. Two hundred and eighty quid, done in a morning. She had the photos to prove what the other lad had tried on.
That is the gap this guide is meant to close. There are plenty of good roofers in Liverpool and there are a handful of chancers, and from your kitchen they can look identical on a Google search. So here is exactly what to look for, the five things that should make you shut the door, and what a fair, honest quote actually looks like when it lands on your mat.
How to find a good roofer in Liverpool: the six checks
Finding a good roofer is not luck, it is a checklist. Before you let anyone quote for work on your Liverpool home, run them past these six things. Any decent roofer will pass all six without breaking a sweat, and anyone who bristles at being asked has told you everything you need to know.
First, a real, findable address and a trading history you can look up on Companies House. Second, public liability insurance for working at height, and the paperwork offered to you rather than dragged out of them. Third, photographs of the actual fault on your roof, taken on the day, before any quote is written. Fourth, a written itemised quote, not a number scribbled on the back of a fag packet. Fifth, a fair booking deposit that covers materials, never a large cash demand before the roof has even been looked at. Sixth, reviews that name real Merseyside places, Crosby, Bootle, Anfield, Woolton, not a wall of five stars with no detail.
Here is the quick version you can screenshot before you make any calls:
- Address and history you can verify, not just a mobile number.
- Insurance shown up front, without you having to ask twice.
- Photos of the actual problem before any price is agreed.
- Written itemised quote with the work broken down.
- Fair deposit for materials, not a big cash lump sum on the doorstep.
- Local reviews that name real streets and real jobs.
None of this is difficult, and none of it costs you anything. It is simply the difference between a tradesman who runs a proper business across Liverpool and someone passing through who will be unreachable the moment the first drop of water comes back through your ceiling. If you want a second opinion on a roof you are worried about, an honest roof inspection should confirm what is actually wrong and put the photos in your hand.
Roof giving you grief?
Get Chris on the phone, no obligation
Free survey. Written itemised quote. Fair deposit, balance on completion. Chris picks up the phone himself and comes out himself, ladder and camera in hand, to show you what is actually wrong with the roof. If it is a repair, he will tell you. If it is a re-roof, he will show you why in the photos.
Or call Chris directly: 07933 828 045
The five red flags that should make you close the door
Some warning signs are worth walking away over on their own. These are the five that come up again and again on the jobs I get called out to fix after someone else has been. If you see any one of them, be careful. If you see two, close the door.
| Red flag | What it usually means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Knocked on your door unprompted | Passing trade, no local base, gone tomorrow | Do not agree to anything on the doorstep |
| Wants a large cash deposit up front | No proper account, high risk of vanishing | Only ever pay a fair, receipted deposit for materials |
| Says the whole roof needs replacing, no photos | Turning a small repair into a big-ticket job | Refuse to accept it without photos of the fault |
| No written quote, just a spoken number | Nothing to hold them to, price creeps up | Ask for it in writing, itemised, or walk |
| No address, no insurance, cannot be verified | Not a real, accountable business | Check Companies House and ask for the insurance |
The door-knock is the classic Liverpool one. Someone rings the bell, says they are working on a roof up the road and noticed some slipped tiles on yours, and offers to sort it while they are here. Sometimes there is genuinely a slipped tile. More often there is not, and by the time the scaffold is up you are being told about rotten timbers you cannot see and a bill that has quadrupled. A settled local roofer does not need to knock on doors, because the work comes to him through reviews and word of mouth on the street.
The cash deposit is the other one to watch. A fair deposit that covers your materials and secures your slot in the diary is completely normal and it protects both sides. What is not normal is a demand for a large lump of cash before anyone has been up to look at the roof. If a repair is genuinely urgent, an honest roofer will still make it watertight first and settle the money against a written quote afterwards, not the other way round.
What a fair Liverpool roofing quote actually looks like
A fair quote is a boring quote. It is itemised, it separates the big cost drivers out so you can see them, and it does not bury anything. The reason this matters is that the wild swings you hear about, one roofer quoting eight grand and another quoting twenty eight for the same house, are almost always down to one quote hiding the scaffolding and skip inside a single number while the other breaks it out. When every quote is itemised the same way, you can finally compare like for like.
Here is roughly what the lines on an honest quote look like, whether it is a small repair or a full job:
| Line item | Why it is there |
|---|---|
| Access / scaffolding or tower | Working at height safely and legally; often the biggest single cost |
| Materials | Slates, tiles, lead, felt, battens, mortar, itemised by type |
| Labour | Days on site, not a vague lump |
| Waste / skip | Removing the old roof covering and clearing the site |
| VAT | Shown separately, not folded in to hide it |
| Guarantee | What is covered, for how long, and in writing |
When you get three quotes for the same job in Liverpool, line them up against that list. If one of them is missing the scaffolding line entirely, that is not a cheaper roofer, that is a quote with a hole in it that will reappear as an extra halfway through the job. Whether you are pricing a slate or tile repair or a flat roof on the back extension, the itemised quote is your best protection against a price that grows legs.
“I had some water ingress in a bedroom, I thought it was down to pointing around the window, Chris and Steve came out to look at a pointing job for me, but quickly identified a hole in my roof. They had time to fix it immediately. They found other issues (all backed up with photos and inviting me to inspect the issues) they replaced the felt and replaced several damaged tiles while they were there! Awesome service, very polite and genuinely decent professional tradesmen. I would recommend to anyone!”
Chris Basford · Homeowner, Aigburth, water ingress diagnosis and felt repair (Google review)
How much do roofers charge per day in Liverpool?
This is the question everyone asks, and it is the wrong one, but it is worth answering. As a rough guide in 2026, a Liverpool roofer works out somewhere around two hundred to three hundred pounds per person per day, and most repair jobs run with two people on site. So a straightforward morning job lands in the region of two to four hundred pounds all in, and a full day with two roofers and materials is more like five hundred to eight hundred, depending on what is being done and how much access costs.
The reason the day rate is the wrong question is that you are not buying days, you are buying a finished, watertight roof with a guarantee. A slower roofer charging less per day who takes twice as long, or who cuts a corner on the flashing to save an hour, costs you far more over ten years than a roofer who charges a fair rate and does it once. Price the job and the guarantee, not the day.
What you should be wary of is a quote that is dramatically cheaper than the other two you have. In roofing, the too-good-to-be-true price nearly always comes back around, either as an extra that appears once the scaffold is up, or as a repair that fails the first winter and cannot be chased because the roofer has moved on. Fair, itemised, guaranteed, and local beats cheap every time.
The questions to ask before you let anyone up a ladder
By the time a roofer is standing on your path, you should be able to sort the good from the chancer with a handful of questions. Keep it friendly, but ask them. A proper tradesman will be glad you did, because it means you will not be haggling over the same things later.
Ask who is actually doing the work, and whether the person quoting will be on the job or whether it gets handed off. Ask to see the public liability insurance. Ask for photographs of the fault before you agree a price. Ask whether the deposit is receipted and what exactly it covers. Ask what the guarantee covers and for how long, and whether you get it in writing. And ask for two or three local jobs you can look up, ideally with reviews that name the area.
Every one of those questions has a right answer and a wrong answer, and you will feel the difference immediately. An honest roofer answers plainly and often volunteers more than you asked. If the mood changes when you ask about insurance or written quotes, trust that feeling. You can always call someone who will happily show you the lot, take a look at your roof, and put the photos in your hand before a penny changes hands.
- Never agree to roofing work on the doorstep with someone who knocked unprompted.
- Ask for photographs of the actual fault before you accept any quote. No photos, no job.
- Check the roofer has a real address and a Companies House trading history you can verify.
- Ask to see public liability insurance for working at height, and expect it shown without a fuss.
- Only pay a fair, receipted deposit for materials. Refuse any large cash demand before the roof has been looked at.
- Get every quote itemised (access, materials, labour, waste, VAT, guarantee) so you can compare like for like.
- Read reviews that name real Merseyside streets and jobs, not just a wall of stars.
Related roofing services and areas
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Everlast Roofing North West
Honest advice, fair price, balance on completion
Twenty years on the roofs of Merseyside. Chris quotes the job and Chris runs the job, photos every step of the way. If the roof has another ten years in it, we will tell you. If it does not, we will show you why in the pictures and give you a written itemised quote with scaffolding, skip, materials and VAT broken out, the lot. Deposit on booking covers materials, balance on completion.
Or call Chris on 07933 828 045 · office 0151 374 1078
Frequently asked questions
How do I find a good roofer in Liverpool?
Run any roofer past six checks: a verifiable address and Companies House history, public liability insurance shown up front, photographs of the actual fault before any quote, a written itemised quote, a fair receipted deposit rather than a big cash demand, and reviews that name real Merseyside areas. Anyone who passes all six is worth a conversation. Anyone who bristles at being asked is not.
How much do roofers charge per day in Liverpool?
As a 2026 guide, roughly £200 to £300 per person per day, and most repair jobs run with two roofers. A straightforward morning repair is usually £200 to £400 all in, and a full day with two roofers plus materials is more like £500 to £800. Price the finished job and the guarantee, not the day rate, because a cheap day rate that cuts corners costs more over ten years.
Should I pay a roofer a deposit before the work starts?
A fair, receipted deposit that covers materials and secures your slot in the diary is completely normal and protects both sides. What to avoid is a large cash demand before the roofer has even looked at the roof, or any payment with no written paperwork. We provide a written itemised quote showing exactly what the deposit covers before you agree to anything.
What are the biggest red flags with a roofer?
The five that come up most often in Liverpool are: someone who knocked on your door unprompted, a demand for a large cash deposit, a claim that the whole roof needs replacing with no photos to prove it, a spoken price with no written quote, and no verifiable address or insurance. Any one of these is a reason to be careful; two together is a reason to close the door.
Do I need to check a roofer is insured?
Yes. Working at height is the single highest-risk part of a domestic job, and if an uninsured roofer is hurt on your property, or damages it, you can be exposed. A proper roofer carries public liability insurance and will show you the paperwork without you having to ask twice. If they cannot, do not let them up the ladder.
How do I know if it is really a repair or a full re-roof?
Ask for photographs of the fault before you accept any quote. A localised problem such as slipped slates, a cracked tile, weathered lead flashing or a blocked valley is almost always a repair. The only honest case for a full re-roof is widespread nail sickness, sagging laths or extensively perished felt, all of which show clearly in photos. If the pictures do not prove a re-roof, it is not one.
For more local roofing advice, browse the Everlast Roofing blog or call Chris on 07933 828 045.
